Monday, December 27, 2010

The Make Poker Legal free poker room is hosting Season 2 of our online poker league again. It is open to members of the poker room. Current players do not need to register or join the league, however if you are not a member of the poker room, then go to MakePokerLegal.com Poker Room to join. Season 2 will last 12 weeks. This is totally free for you to play (with optional upgrades in memberships). Enter any poker tournament (both NL Holdem & Royal Holdem) to earn points. These points are known as your “bankroll”. Build your bankroll up each week to receive your weekly points (see below of points). Each week will start on Sunday at 6am EST and run until Sunday 5am EST. While you are playing in the poker league there is over $100,000 in cash as well as other prizes, qualifiers and championships.

The structure has changed slightly compared to Season 1. It is still played within the Make Poker Legal Poker Room. It is not based on a tournament or a final table. It is based on your total bankroll over the Season. Your points are considered your bankroll. You can earn free points everyday for logging in, placing “in the points”, referring a friend and more. Each week you will earn points (see below for point structure).

New Changes for Season 2- You must play at least 10 hands for your points to count each week. In the past some players just logged in each day to get points and thus made it unfair to others.- Your bankroll (aka points) that you win while playing Royal Holdem will be included in your overall points for the week/season.- Points made while playing Video Poker will not count towards your points for the week/season.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Over a year has passed since the murder of the PokerListings founder Andreas Oscarsson, with no one charged for the killing and plenty of questions still unanswered.

Poker News Daily reported on the story last year in which Oscarsson – with his young son beside him – was shot six times as he laid sleeping in his bed on August 3rd, 2009. Neither his son nor Oscarsson’s father, who was also in the home, were harmed during the attack, leaving many to believe that Oscarsson’s murder was a contract killing. Since that time, a Swedish outlet has followed the story and recently presented their findings.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Last Friday, Judge Thomas Wingate issued an Order of Abeyance in the Kentucky internet gambling case, effectively freezing the status quo for 30 days. Motions filed by the State and the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) “shall be held in abeyance until such time as this Court rules on the legal standing question of whether associational representation is proper in an in rem proceeding.”

Saturday, December 18, 2010

In breaking news, Party Gaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit, who admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 two years ago, was sentenced to one year of probation by a New York court, according to Forbes. He has also coughed up $300 million and “agreed to cooperate in an ongoing investigation with Federal prosecutors.”

Friday, December 17, 2010

On Thursday morning, John Pappas told Poker News Daily that the bill introduced by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) legalizing and regulating online poker is all but dead. A move to add the bill’s language to the tax relief act currently being debated in Congress failed to come to fruition.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

According to a Politico article released on Thursday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) still plans to pursue legislation legalizing and regulating online poker, but likely won’t do so as part of the tax relief bill.

The Politico piece noted that language legalizing online poker was absent from a version of the tax bill released on Thursday. The news outlet explained, “Reid could still insert the poker legalization into the tax cut bill if additional modifications are made before a final vote is cast sometime next week. Or he could slip the plan into a mammoth $1 trillion omnibus spending bill that has yet to be unveiled, but is necessary to keep the government funded through September. Any option is certain to generate backlash from the GOP.”

Friday, December 10, 2010

The legislative scene on internet gambling legalisation in California has been revitalised this week with a fresh attempt by the Morongo Band of Indians and its associates to legalise online poker and now a fresh attempt by Senator Rod Wright, who launched his SB45 proposal late Wednesday.

The Capitol Weekly reports that the senator’s latest bill has echoes of his previously proposed SB1485, which was moderately successful but failed to survive before the mid-term elections truncated the last state Senate session.....

Thursday, December 9, 2010

On Tuesday, Politico published an article revealing that U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was attempting to add a bill legalizing online poker to the measure extending tax cuts.

Politico confirmed Reid’s desires with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Hatch told the political news outlet, “They’re trying. Sen. Reid would like to do that.” Despite Hatch’s confirmation that Reid was attempting to add an online poker rider to the tax bill, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), one of the masterminds of the original Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), would not allow the plan to come to fruition. Kyl told Politico, “[There is] zero chance – no chance whatsoever that would be part of the tax deal. I don’t think it would be the right thing to do.”............

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Right now there is a lot of buzz in the online gambling industry over the possibility of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid attaching an online poker bill to must-pass legislation during the lame duck session. There are a lot of good and bad things being said about the bill, which few people have seen.

The bill would essentially render UIGEA useless even if it doesn’t totally repeal it. That would be good news for online gamblers in the U.S. who are having trouble finding casinos that will accept them. No one has reported yet on the licensing fees or the tax rate, but there are a couple reported regulations that have some in the business angry.

One reported regulation would only allow casinos that have existed at least 5 years in the United States to offer online gambling. That would benefit the old casino industries in places like Las Vegas (where Reid represents) and Atlantic City while discriminating against states with new casino industries. The bill also supposedly would not allow tribal casinos to provide online gambling sites.

Another regulation that is drawing the ire of poker players is a rule that would make them wait 15 months without playing poker online. It will take 15 months from the time the law is passed for the regulation to be put in place. That type of regulatory delay is common and it is the reason laws take so long to go into effect. However, Reid’s bill purportedly states that online casinos cannot receive a license if they have accepted U.S. players within 30 days of the bill being passed. That means a period of 15 months (or more) in which any online gambling website that wants to be licensed in the U.S. will not allow any American customers.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Following in the footsteps of the New Jersey Senate passing Internet gambling legislation, it appears California is ready to make a strong run at instituting intrastate online poker in 2011.

“We have a bill sponsor who will be announced in the next few weeks,” said Melanie Brenner, executive director of the trade association Poker Voters of America, which has been focusing its efforts in the Golden State. “The challenge in California has always been with the tribes, and we have made great strides there. We are just ironing out a few minor details and then we will be able to make a public announcement of their support very soon.”

Harry Reid has drafted a poker bill. Entitled “Internet Poker Act of 2010. MakePokerLegal.com has received the draft. To view the draft click Internet Poker Act of 2010

We at Makepokerlegal.com support this Bill, along with my Brother Mike Matusow. Please use our front page at www.makepokerlegal.com LEFT HAND SIDE OF PAGE, to contact your congress people and Senators and write them, telling them you want them to pass it!!

We have also included this in our Forums Section. Discuss the Internet Poker Act of 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing behind the scenes for lame-duck legislation that would allow poker games over the Internet but restrict initial licenses to casinos and racetrack operators that have been in businesses at least five years.

Some of the biggest casino operators in Reid’s home state of Nevada are eager to get a piece of the online gambling industry, which generates an estimated $5 billion a year for offshore operators.

A congressional aide familiar with the issue said Reid aides were circulating the draft legislation, and a copy of it was obtained by The Associated Press. The aide was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and did so only on condition of anonymity.

Four years ago, Congress effectively banned online gambling, passing legislation that prohibits banks and credit card companies from making payments to gambling websites. Supporters of online poker face less opposition with Democrats in charge of both chambers for another month. The House Financial Services Committee this year approved a bill that established a regulatory structure for online gambling.